...............If you have email addresses for, or are in contact with, other syndicate members please invite them to join this forum and to participate. We need to rely on "word of mouth" to grow our number of participants.

I wouldn't be opposed to entering him as a claimer in future, but I agree that this would need to be discussed and voted on by the syndicate before this could happen.In saying that I'm really not concerned about getting anything for him, I would just be happy to stop having to pay for his upkeep.

I would not have thought that they could put a claiming price on his head as this would be a potential sale each time he is entered as a claimer. The sale of a syndicate horse needs member approval from a special meeting called for that purpose, in this instance it would be to set the claiming price. It would be a brave manager that entered a syndicate horse into a race with a claiming price attached without first getting a mandate from the members.I don't see this as a viable option.

Has a syndicate horse ever been entered as a claimer? I have only been involved back as far as the 2010 syndicate and it has not been an occurrence since then. Barry do you know if any syndicate horses were ever entered as claimers prior to the 2010 syndicate.

As to a buyer not differentiating the form between an amateur and professional race I will have to agree to disagree with you on that one - it is publicly available information available on the HRNZ website and surely any potential purchaser would do their homework before handing over the dosh, by not only studying the quality of field in which the horse has raced but also viewing all the available videos on HRNZ to examine the racing style of the horse.If not then send the purchaser my direction as I have a used harbour bridge for sale.

I agree about the indication of value. On the amateur drivers website horses are occasionally offered for sale and they generally go for between $1,000 and $5,000 with some at the upper end of the scale taking a little while to sell.

Looks like he is heading for claiming status. Bolting and others are claimable in the same race.

I suppose that when a buyer looks at the form line he/she probably doesn't differentiate too much between amateur races and professionals. However being in this race does give a guide to his likely current value.

If I waited for a new member to make the 500th post I will be an old man....................

In the May newsletter there are comments from Geoff Small that he is trying to get form in place and is considering placing Major Change in an amateurs race in order to achieve this.The recent dual nomination of Change in both an amateur race and a class race was thus not an error.If this is being done in order to gain form and thus to seek a buyer then it seems a bit foolhardy - form in amateur races will hardly attract buyers nor increase his selling price. Form in an amateurs race will attract only an amateur buyer who would wish to continue racing him in amateur races. As these amateur races have very limited stakes earning potential (Auckland will not even run racenight amateur races) or even nil stakes on offer when they race in summer series races at the workouts, the price payable for an amateurs horse is minimal.

I looked at the nominations yesterday and Change was originally nominated for the Junior drivers race, so I was surprised to see him also in the Amateurs drivers race when the fields came out.He has already been scratched from the Amateurs drivers race, so I'm not sure whether they were actually serious about racing him in the Amateurs drivers race or whether they were waiting to see what draws he got before deciding which race he would start in.

Today the fields were released for Thursday evening at Cambridge and Major Change has been nominated for, and accepted into, an amateur drivers race.

Yes, I know that he is dual nominated and has also been listed as a runner in race 8 which is the junior drivers race but at least the juniors are professional drivers. I sincerely hope that he is scratched from the amateur drivers race and does only start in the junior drivers race.

I am all in favour of amateur driver races being held, I fully support amateur driving as I have taken part in more than one amateur drivers weekend workshop, but it is not the place to include a syndicate horse. Horses that partake in amateur drivers races are largely second and third rate horses that are in most cases (not all) trained by second-string or part-time trainers. The quality of the driving skills displayed by amateur drivers has also been questionable over the past few months.

An amateurs race does not promote a professional image for the syndicates and I am very surprised that the syndicate manager permitted a syndicate horse to be included in an amateur drivers race. A good advertisement for selling the remaining unsold units in the 2017 syndicate - Not!!!!!! I would rather see the horse given away or retired rather than see him run in an amateurs race.

Yes, he was very poor tonight and you certainly can't put it down to him not backing up from a hard run the first night.He was throwing his head about in the score up behind the barrier and never seemed like he wanted to be there tonight with Ben Butcher having to flick the reins and use the whip on him regularly over the last 2 laps.

I'm planning to go to the syndicate meeting to vote on the sale of Major Star on Saturday morning so I will make sure to question Rob about Change's future as a race horse when I'm there.

Why are they persevering with this horse?I saw Ben Butcher hitting him with the whip during the running and a long long way from the finish. With 500m still to run his race was over and he just stopped.In the interest of the horses welfare, do the decent thing and retire him.

"As to Major Change I can see his racing career within the current ownership syndicate coming to an end sooner rather than later. He is achieving little and as a 4 year old has had 14 starts for 1 win and 2 seconds with stakes earnings of $9,239. It has cost a damn sight more than this sum, in training fees, to achieve this result and more often than not we are presented with mediocre performances on the racetrack. If a vote to sell or retire Change is presented to members in the near future then I will not be opposing it."

We seem to be in agreement that the shades are coming down on his racing career.

Major Change to race again after only a short break, this time at Manawatu on Tuesday 12th April. He is on the verge of a drop back in class as he has had 9 placings since his last win on 2nd January. This eventuality will drop him back to C3 which would open up opportunities in C2-C3 races which may be more to his liking.The race on Tuesday has some good in-form horses with numbers 1 thru to 6 all having won a minimum of two races along with a C9 and an Open Class horse also in the race as $12,000 claimers. Change will have his work cut out for him to win this one.

I am quite keen on Change today in the last race, back on the grass at New Plymouth. From his draw on the back row, I see him trailing the field and coming with one run down the outside which seems to be how he races best.

It's also interesting to see that Zac is aboard today rather than father David. (no loss there)

The mild concern is that Change has been rather inconsistent recently so you don't really know which version of him is going to turn up.

Ran 8th tonight and personally I thought he might have done a bit better than that. Just seemed to battle away down the final straight. He showed some good finish in his workout on Saturday but the standing for 6 hours driving down to Palmy may have taken the sting out of him.Will be interesting to see if he bounces back and starts on the second day of the meeting on Sunday and to see whether there is an improved performance. I would have thought it entirely unlikely that Major Star will start on day two due to his ongoing battle to hold condition on his large frame - surely he would instead be brought home to freshen him for the Country Cup final on 1st April.

Disappointing but it looked like the drivers of the 2 favourites, Saharazona and Change were playing cat and mouse, waiting for the the other to go. With a strong pace up front ( easily the fastest 2500 metres of the night) the leaders were well clear and going well when they did decide to challenge. Change's brief gallop at the 250 could have been through lack of racing room when needed.

A very ordinary run on the second night of the Manawatu meeting tonight. He was off the bit again for the first half of the race and struggled to hold the helmet of the horse in front of him. When David pulled the ear plugs with a lap to go Change did seem to concentrate a bit more but there was no zip left in him down the final straight.Bring him home, give him a few days off and then try again with say the Stratford Cup on the grass on Saturday 27th February, or at Manawatu again on Tuesday 1st March.

What an interesting run from Major Change. Couldn't keep up early, then on the rails mid race, then wide on the turn and ran home well for second. The stewards report suggests that Major Change is developing a mind of his own and knocks off when he feels like it. He has to be a big chance tomorrow if he concentrates throughout. Did anybody attend Manawatu and get feedback from the trainer and an update on Some Change?